Mail-receiver.



FRANZ HEINZ, OF ATCHISON, KANSAS.'

MAIL-RECEIVER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 22, 1905.

Application iiled February 21, 1905. Serial No. 246,761.

T0 a/ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANZ HEINZ, residing at Atchison, in the county of Atchison and State of Kansas, have invented a new and Improved Mail-Receiver, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in that type of letter boxes or receivers formed in house-doors, and which can also be utilized as name-plates and knocking devices, and it seeks to provide an appliance of the character stated of a very simple and economical construction which can be readily applied to the ordinary house-door and serve as a convenient name-plate, which can be conveniently manipulated, and when closed will positively keep out cold air from the room.

My invention comprehends a suitablyformed metallic face-plate formed of sheet spring-metal having an opening for the passage of the mail-matter adapted to register with an opening cut in the door, a plate arranged to fit over and positively close od the opening in the door,automatically held pressed to its closed position, and a peculiarly-arranged spring device for edecting an automatic closing of the cover-plate, as also for maintaining said plate to its outer or horizontal position during the action oi' putting mail through the opening in the door.

In its more subordinate features my invention embodies a peculiar arrangement of spring-hinges and other details of construction, all of which will be hereinafter fully described, and pointed ont in the claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective View of a portion of a door with my improvement applied. Fig. 2 is a similar view, parts being' in cross-section. Fig. 3 is al transverse section of the door-opening with my improvement applied, the hinged plate being shown swung down. Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2, showing the position oi" the hinge-head and the spring-plate when the plate is closed. Fig. 5 is a similar View showing' the position of hinge-head when the plate is swung down. Fig. 6 is a detail perspective View of one of the combined housing members and spring-plates that cooperate with the hinge-heads. Fig. 7 is a horizontal section of one of the hinge connections and the spring-plate, taken on the line 7 7 of Fig. 2.

In the practical application of my present invention I face that portion of the door having the letter-passage opening o with a sheetmetal plate B, formed with an opening and having the edges of the opening bent into the opening a to form smooth edges for the filling-piece c of the hinged plate C to snugly engage when theplate is closed in, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

The plate C, which may serve as a nameplate as well as a cover, is of any suitable ornamental shape desired. The plate C is larger than the opening a and is adapted to close over the same, so as to form a tight closure to keep rain and cold air from entering through the opening a. The plate C may be of wood, glass, or other material and is made fast in any suitable manner to the cross-bar, composed oi' a 1-shaped Vyoke-frame D, bent up from a stout rod, the pendent members d of which are bent laterally in the direction of the length of the frame to form hinge members d to engage the eye-bearings E E. F designates heads fixedly secured on ends of the pintles or hinge members d CZ, which have two Hat faces at right angles to each other, (indicated by ff,) one of which, f', is in the plane parallel with the face of the plate C and the other facef is at right angles to the face f', the reason for which will presently appear. Upon each end o1 the face-plate B is secured a combined housing and springplate G G, and each of the parts G G coacts With and protects the hinge-heads F at their respective ends of the plate B.

Each member Gr consists of a sheet-springmetal rectangular-shaped plate made fast at one of its corners to the face-platel B and the door by the wood-screws g g.

rIhe inner lower corner of the plate G is loosely sustained and is bent up to form a housing g', tapering in its longitudinal direction and having its greatest width and depth at the lowerend to iit over and receive the pintle-heads F.

As best shown in Fig. 2, the housing g has its inner wall g2 slotted, as at g3, to fit loosely over the spindle d', and its front portion g4 is formed to snugly rest upon the face f of the head F under its spring tension when the plate C is closed over the door-opening a, as

'shown in Fig. 2, while the horizontal portion g. extends under and in contact with the under side f of the head F. lWhen the plate C is turned down, the edge f2 of the head F acts as a cam and forces the combined housing and spring-plate ,rft outward under an increased tension, which when the head F is turned to the position shown in Fig. 5 firmly presses against the said head to hold its spring to its turned position, it beingunderstood that the portion g4 of the members G act in like manner on the heads F when the plate C is closed up.

I am aware that drop-plates, hinge-plates, and the like have been used for-protecting or covering the letter-openings in doors. My invention, as far as I know, differentiates from what has been heretofore provided in the peculiar manner in which the member C is hinged, its pintle -heads F, and the special construction of the combined housing and spring members Gr for maintaining a desired spring tension on the pintle-heads .to hold them to their adjusted position and at the same time protect them from the Weather and being tampered with.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a mail-receiver of the character described, the combination with the door having the opening, the hinged cover-plate for said opening, the hinge-pintles, having cam-heads, of a combined housing and spring for each of said heads, consisting of a sheet-metal member secured to the door and having their ends adjacent the pintle-heads loose, and held under tension to cover and engage the cam-heads as set forth.

2. The combination with the door having the opening, the 'cover-plate, the yoke-frame to which said plate is attached, said frame being hinged to the door-frame and having its pintles extended and formed with cam-heads, each having a bearing-surface disposed at .right angles to each other and merging; of the combined housing and spring-plates G, each consisting of a rectangular-shaped body having three of its ends made fast to the door, its other end being loose, bent to form a housing, the inner wall of which is slotted to receive the hingepintle, and a at portion adapted to engage the cam -heads under spring tension as set forth.

3. A letter-receiver for doors having letterslots, comprising in combination a sheet-metal face-plate having an opening the edges of which are bent to extend into the opening in the door, a cover-plate having a filling-strip on its inner face to project into the opening in the face-plate, said cover-plate being hinged to the face-plate to swing away therefrom, the hinge-pintles being extended, and each terminating in a cam-head having a pair of flat faces at right angles to each other, and a housing for each cam-head, each consisting of a spring-metal rectangular plate secured at three of its edges to the face-plate, its other edge being loose and formed with an outwardly-inclined housing, the inner Wall of which is slotted to loosely fit over the hingepintle, its fiat portion being arranged to engage the cam-head to the hinge-pintle substantiallyT as shown and described.

FRANZ HEINZ.

Witnesses:

J. P. ADAMS, FRANoEs COSTELLO. 

